Gay civil rights isn’t a “social issue.” It’s our lives. A lot of us, myself included, grew up thinking we’d never see the age of 30 because we’d have to kill ourselves once people found out we were gay. A lot of people have no idea how hard it is to grow up being gay. To grow up thinking God made you wrong. Thinking you will never find love. Thinking your own family and friends will disown you once they know who you really are. And hearing the President of the United States – one of the “good” guys – say that you don’t deserve the right to marry the person you love.

And when politicians make promises to us, break promises to us, then lecture us to “stop whining” because the other guy would hurt us even worse, it really hits a raw nerve. It suggests that they don’t think our struggle is a struggle. They don’t think it’s as important as the “important” issues the country faces. It tells us that they think we’re just another special interest, no different than the corporate lobbyist trying to get another tax break.

Until kids like Tyler Clementi stop killing themselves, we will continue to whine. We’ll whine about bad politicians who try to pass legislation hurting us, and “good” politicians who say the right thing, but can’t seem to find the time to fit our civil rights into their busy schedules.